Snakes
by Herochick007
Summary: When Molly II finds an old portrait covered in dust in an abandoned classroom, she can't help but wonder if it will make her dreams come true. Warning - adult relationship with a minor - only kissing.


**A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters.**

**This is a slight AU concerning Salazar Slytherin. **

**This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**Assignment #2**

**Health and Fitness Task # 4 Stair Steppers - Write about someone trying to climb something. (be creative - climb a social ladder/ climbing through a workplace via promotions / climbing out of a figurative hole you've dug for yourself.) **

**Insane Prompt challenge: 293: Pairing – Salazar/Molly II**

**Word count: 2530**

"It's just, my whole family has always been in Gryffindor. They hate still Slytherins. They make snide remarks every time I come home for the holidays. My Uncles Ron and Harry are the worst! It's been almost four years since I was sorted and they're still not accepting it."

"Glad to see the old rivalry is still going strong," the man stated, a smile spreading across his narrow face.

"What am I supposed to do? I want my family, but I feel like I belong here, like I finally belong somewhere," Molly whispered. She'd been named her grandmum, who was a shining example of what a Gryffindor should be; brave, loyal, everything Molly felt she wasn't.

"Be the best Slytherin you can be, show them who you truly are. If they cannot accept that, then they were never truly your family to begin with." Molly blinked staring at the portrait. She'd found it by accident when she'd been running away from Filch.

The classroom where it hung was covered in dust. She could tell it hadn't been used in years. She wondered why the portrait was in here, covered in dust as well. At first, it had been nothing more than a blank sheet of green canvas. She hadn't known whose portrait it was. She still didn't, not for certain. She'd cleaned it, washed the gilded frame until he'd appeared. She'd never asked his name, although, in her heart, she knew. She knew exactly who he was. He was Salazar Slytherin, the founder of her house. The man who had started everything. With him giving her advice, there would be no end to what she could accomplish. She would be more powerful, she would never have to settle for a simple life.

At eleven, Molly hadn't given much thought to whom she was speaking. He spoke similar to those around her.

"I've studied the speak patterns of those who pass my other portraits. It would do me no good to be unable to communicate because language hast evolved to the point where I can no longer be understood."

"That makes sense," she'd agreed not mentioning he still used a few words she didn't quite understand. She started reading older text to make sure could understand everything he said.

At eleven, he was just a man, an adult, she could talk to. He gave her advice on her school work, told her secrets about her house. At twelve, he was her confidant, the one person she could trust to never tell her deepest secret. At twelve, she had confessed it to him, the words falling from her lips like a cascading waterfall.

"I asked to be in Slytherin," she whispered. He'd nodded sagely, watching her. He knew she'd made a confession, knew she'd been hiding something before now.

"Why?" he asked, folding his hands in front of him. She looked at him, her eyes seeming to pierce the canvas. He'd seen other students in his years hidden here. She was the first one who had ever stayed.

She knew how powerful Salazar had been, she'd read all the history books about the founders. She smiled thinking about how he had chosen to speak to her. His advice never failed to advance her in both her classes and in her, right now, small life. She had gone from being part of a blood traitor line to being a Slytherin princess.

"Because I'm not like them. I'm not comfortable settling into a life like my grandmum, staying home with kids. I'm not like my granddad, he's comfortable staying in one position with no aspiration to move up. My father has, well, he had ambition."

"Had?"

"Married my mum, now he's not interested in climbing any higher. He's settled. I don't want to settle, I want it all. I want to be on top. I want to be in charge. My sister says I'm bossy."

"Are you?"

"No! I'm... in charge," Molly smiled. Salazar smiled back. Yes, this was the girl. The one that would break the curse. He was certain of it now. He listened while Molly prattled about the events of the day. She wasn't ready yet. No, a few more years, hopefully she would be before she left Hogwarts, or got distracted by something and left him here alone again.

At thirteen, Molly started noticing boys for the first time. A strange fluttering feeling in her chest when someone she thought was cute spoke to her. The feeling surprised her. It surprised her even more when she realized she wasn't interested in kissing her classmates. None of them seemed to be able to offer her what she wanted. They were sloppy, cute, but none of them seemed to be interested in her own interest. No, they were merely interested in her because she had power. None of them seemed interested in making their own power, but using hers.

Instead, she had her first sexual dream, about the man in the portrait! She wasn't ready to call him by his name, not even in her head. Names had power, she'd read that somewhere. Besides, he hadn't given her permission to use his name, hadn't actually ever told her what it was. No, it was safer to think of him as the man in the portrait.

Salazar noticed the change when Molly slipped into the empty room. Something about her was different. He listened to her carefully, hoping her words would reveal what had changed. Alas, she only told him about some idiotic boy in her year who she probably had a crush on. Nothing important to him. It wasn't until she was leaving, when she cast one last look at his portrait, that he saw it. In her eyes, a faint embarrassment, a flush spreading across her fair cheeks. Yes. She had become a woman, he was certain of that now. It wouldn't be long until the curse was broken.

Molly started showing up more frequently in his classroom. Most time, she just sat and did her homework. She'd ask him questions about some of the things she didn't understand. He was more than happy to help her. No, he never actually gave her the answers, but he had no problem helping her figure them out herself. She was smart. She could figure out most things. He wondered if she might break the curse sooner than later.

He remembered the day it had been cast. He'd been out of the castle doing something akin to research. Granted it involved some very Dark Magic, but still, it had been for research purposes. He hadn't meant to offend the witch. She shouldn't have been able to best him anyway, but she did. He'd disappeared that day. The rest of the founders thinking he'd run off because of something stupid Godric had done. No, he'd been cursed to roam for centuries until true love could free him from his painted prison. He'd been thrilled when the first portrait had been painted. He'd hoped she would appear then, and he wouldn't be stuck for long. No, it had been centuries, millennia, before Molly had run into the empty classroom.

"Something odd is going on with me," she finally stated at the beginning of her fifth year. She'd started blooming by this point, and Salazar couldn't help but be glad he was a painted figure and not a flesh and blood man.

"What's wrong?"

"Not wrong, exactly, but odd. I know I should be interested in the boys in my year, but for some I can't think of them that way. I've been asked on several dates, but I've turned them down," she admitted. He nodded watching her.

"Why?"

"I'm not... they're not... I think... I know it sounds insane, and I'm probably going mad, but I think I like you. I know you're just paint on a canvas, but..."

"Molly, listen to me carefully. I am more than paint on a canvas. I was cursed a long time ago, long before you or your family was even a speck in the universe's eyes. I was condemned to live as a portrait until the day I could be freed."

"How?" she asked looking at him, her eyes burning with fire. "How do I free you? And if I do, what happens?"

"If you free, if you can, I will be come flesh and blood again. I will become a man again." She regarded him for a moment. He was older than her, at least he appeared to be. Of course, she was a child, barely fifteen. She was still two years away from being an adult.

"If I free you and you become a man, we couldn't be together. Times have changed. You would be considered a pedophile, a horrible thing." He blinked. He knew things had changed. He hadn't realized how much.

"I see. At what age would a relationship betwixt us become acceptable by this new society?"

"It depends on how old you will be once you are freed, I mean, people will talk no matter what, but how much older you are than me..."

"Molly, I was a young man when I helped form this great school. I was forty-five when I met the witch who cursed me. I believe I will be that age when I am freed. I do not believe time would have past as I was in the portrait."

"Forty-five... wow." Molly sat back against the chair thinking. Salazar could see a hint of something in her eyes, a spark of mischief, of an idea.

"Do you want to stay that age?" she asked after a moment.

"Why do you ask? What you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that I found a book, a very old book. A possibly Dark book, that might contain a spell for changing one's age... for good. Not the sham of a spell the aging potion is. That's temporary. This would be for good," she stated her eyes darkening. Salazar smiled. He'd been right about this girl. She had more power than she realized. She was beautiful when she was in her element, when the darkness blossomed in her soul.

"I would not object to being a younger man." She smiled, a smile of hope, of daring.

"Good, now that we've settled the age difference. How the bloody hell do I free you?" she asked rising to her feet and standing directly in front of him.

"True love's kiss. I know, it's incredibly cliche, but all those stories must come from somewhere, do you not agree?" She snorted.

"I'll be back tonight with the book. If I can't cast the spell, I have no doubt you will be able to. Also, I'll bring you some new robes. Those are a bit... dated and you would stand out for exactly who you are." He nodded as she slipped from the room.

He couldn't believe his luck. He'd been hopeful when she'd found him. He'd been hopeful when she'd become a woman and he'd felt the stirrings in his own painted heart. Hearing she felt something similar, it might be a crush for now, but in time, he had no doubt it would bloom into love. Could she really be able to free him now? And if she did, what then?

True to her word, she returned that night carrying a bag. She pulled out a pair of emerald green robes and a tattered black leather bound book. He recognized the book and smiled. How had she managed to find it?

"Welcome back."

"Thank you. Are you ready for this?" she asked watching him. The idea of Salazar Slytherin being by her side send shivers down her spine. He was one of the most powerful wizards to ever live. If this went according to plan, then she'd be his, or... more like, he'd be hers. She hadn't spent the last two years working to gain power to hand it over to a man, even if it was the man she was coming to love. She wondered for a brief second if true love was what she felt. She was only fifteen.

"I am. I do not know for certain this will work. You are young, it's possible what you feel... isn't..." She nodded.

"If it's not, we'll wait until it is. I'm not giving this up," she stated. He nodded as she walked over to him. Her face nearly touching his. Slowly her lips touched the canvas matching his. He could feel the softness of them, could feel the heat from her body. The air swirled around the pair, light surrounding them. The light became brighter and brighter. The pair didn't notice as their kiss became more passionate until Molly finally opened her eyes and found herself kissing not a portrait, but a man much older than herself. She broke the kiss panting hard.

"It worked!" she whispered. Salazar blinked his eyes open and looked around before finally looking at the young woman who had freed him.

"It did," he agreed. She smiled rising to her feet and grabbing the book.

"The spell will only make you physically younger, all your memories will remain intact. Which is good, since I'm not interested if you're not longer you. The spell is Dark, as I said, but I can do it. Do I have your consent?" she asked softly. Normally consent didn't matter, not with Dark Magic, but with this spell, it was required. She wondered if it had been an attempt to make it less Dark.

"You do." Molly nodded reciting the words. She'd set the preparations up already. She'd taken the required lives. They had been mere chickens, but the book didn't specify human lives. She hated chickens anyway. A brilliant blue light surrounded Salazar. When it faded Molly gasped. He was younger, she would guess about nineteen, with dark wavy hair and dark eyes.

"I can tell by your expression, it worked."

"I did, here. I made sure they were the right color for you. Also, since I did free you, I believe I should be allowed to call you by your name. You've never actually given it to me." He blinked thinking back. Molly had always seemed to know who he was. But she was right, he'd never actually given her his name.

"Salazar Slytherin, at your service, Miss?"

"Weasley, Molly Weasley the second," she stated. "Change quickly before someone finally catches me out of bed, not that it honestly matters anymore. I believe you can teach me more than I could ever learn here," she stated.

"You are correct, my dear. I'm going to guess you're planning on us leaving the school?"

"Not exactly. I know about the Chamber of Secrets. You will teach me there, you will teach me the Dark Magic these idiots won't. And together, we shall rule the world?" He blinked in shock. He'd never quite realized how ambitious Molly was from her visits, but yes, she was perfect. He smiled. He knew she would never give her power to him, she was too much like him in that aspect. No, he would be content to rule at her side.


End file.
